He continued to have the greatest respect for his former pupil, whose poetry commemorated the beauties of his native district.
It may be mentioned that Bellow Mill is situated on the Bellow Water, near where it joins the river Lugar.

One of Burns' finest songs begins:-- "Behind yon hills where Lugar flows." That was the scene of William Murdock's boyhood.

When a boy, he herded his father's cows along the banks of the Bellow; and as there were then no hedges, it was necessary to have some one to watch the cattle while grazing.

The spot is still pointed out where the boy, in the intervals of his herding, hewed a square compartment out of the rock by the water side, and there burnt the splint coal found on the top of the Black Band ironstone.

That was one of the undeveloped industries of Scotland; for the Scotch iron trade did not arrive at any considerable importance until about a century later.[3] The little cavern in which Murdock burnt the splint coal was provided with a fireplace and vent, all complete.